(单词翻译:单击)
中英文本
What human activity has the biggest impact on the planet?
人类的活动对我们所居住的这颗星球产生的最大影响是什么？
I took an informal poll of New Yorkers: Driving, day to day commuting. Eating too much meat.
于是我在《纽约人》杂志上进行了一项非正式的调查，回答真是五花八门：驾车，每天上下班。吃太多肉。
Using too many resources, I think. Factory farming. Driving.
我想是消耗过多的资源，工厂制造和农业耕作驾车。
Here's something I didn't hear: killing off the world's top carnivores, like tigers, wolves and bears.
还有一些我们没有听到的回答：致使世界上位于生物链金字塔尖上的肉食动物消亡，比如老虎、狼和熊等。
Scientists say it's an overlooked problem with effects that ripple through ecosystems in unexpected ways.
科学家表示这是我们人类所忽视的一个问题，现在已经出现一些以意外方式波及到整个生态系统的现象。
When otters disappear, for example, urchins take over, decimating kelp forests.
比如当水獭消失，海胆数量会上升，海藻丛会被大量消耗殆尽。
Researchers reviewed the conservation status of 31 of the world's largest carnivorous mammals.
研究人员们研究了31种世界上最大型的肉食类哺乳动物现在的生存状态。
They found that some two-thirds are threatened, living on a fraction of their former range.
他们发现大约三分之二的这类动物面临生存威胁，与之前的生存区域相比现在它们的地盘大幅减少。
And nearly all are decreasing in number, apart from a few exceptions, like grizzlies and black bears.
而且除了少数以外，几乎每个种类的数量都在减少，比如说北美洲灰熊和黑熊。
Their analysis appears in the journal Science.
这项研究已在《科学》杂志上发表。
The loss of top carnivores could alter the dynamics of disease and wildfires, they say, and have unintended consequences for ecosystems.
顶级生物链上的肉食动物数目下降将改变疾病和野火发生的动态变化规律，研究人员们表示，还会对生态系统造成的非预期影响。
So either we learn to coexist with these predators or their disappearance may come back to bite us.
所以，要么我们学会和这些肉食动物和谐共存，要么它们的消亡会最终让我们品尝到自己种下的恶果。
词语解释
1.kill off 消灭， 把…一个接一个地杀死
Free can also be used to kill off competition and create a barrier to entry.
免费还可能扼杀竞争并制造进入门槛。
Steve ballmer laughed off the iphone, which eventually helped kill off windows mobile-and it's now bigger than all of microsoft's businesses combined.
史蒂夫鲍尔默对iphone一笑了之，这款产品目的是要消灭微软的移动视窗-它现在大于所有微软的业务组合。
2.informal poll 非正式的调查
In an informal poll of my friends and colleagues, I discovered that no one remembered the mascot of the 1988 games.
我在自己的朋友和同事中做了个非正式的调查，发现没有一个人记得1988年奥运会的吉祥物。
According to an informal poll most people hope the working hours will be reduced because they've realized that there is a lot more to life than a job.
从一项非正式的民意调查来看大多数人希望缩短工作时间，因为他们意识到除了工作，生活中还有许多别的东西。
3.carnivore 食肉动物
The red fox has become the most widely distributed carnivore on the planet.
红狐已经成为世界上分布最广的食肉动物种群。
"No carnivore worth its salt would pass up that kind of a meal," he added.
“没有哪一种食肉动物会错过一顿如此大的美餐的，”他补充到。
4.take over 接管
After mr abbas steps down, who will take over?
在阿巴斯辞职之后，又有谁来接管巴当局？
Are you planning on appointing an heir to take over your responsibilities upon retirement?
你有无计划在退休时安排一位接班人接替你的工作？
